Bought a 2007 Camry Hybrid

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by S Keith

Lastly, I recommend you use Hybrid Assistant and set the fan control to 100°F when operating in warmer weather.

I've wondered if it would be worth it to make a battery temp spoofer to not only make the fan run more, but also to have the current limits kick in a little earlier to put less stress on the battery at high and low temperatures. It could even spoof to the extremes all the time to keep the current limits low to squeeze a bit more life out of a dying battery.

[S Keith]

Originally Posted by vskid3

I've wondered if it would be worth it to make a battery temp spoofer to not only make the fan run more, but also to have the current limits kick in a little earlier to put less stress on the battery at high and low temperatures. It could even spoof to the extremes all the time to keep the current limits low to squeeze a bit more life out of a dying battery.

As have I, but $20 for a bluetooth OBDII and hybrid assistant get it done with minimal effort.

Issue I have is that they are NTC sensors, so as temperature increases, resistance decreases. If they were PTC, just add a resistor in series, but being NTC, the only way to do it is to put a resistor in parallel, which completely jacks up the resistance/temperature curve.

Hybrid assistant is a no-brainer. Let the car manage it up to 100°F. Once it hit's 100°F, full blast cooling.

[vskid3]

I was thinking of using something like an Arduino to monitor the sensors. At the right temperatures, it would disconnect the sensors from the car (while the microcontroller still monitors them) and send the car the appropriate spoofed signal. I would want to figure out a way to make it fail safe, so if the Arduino crashes or dies, the car would just see the sensors with no change.

Probably not really worth it, especially when Hybrid Assistant can at least help keep the battery from getting too hot to begin with. I think I've had issues with Pandora crashing while using Hybrid Assistant, maybe I'll have to just stick an old phone in the glove box and have it run Hybrid Assistant.

[vskid3]

A little good and bad news on the Camry.
Bad: Shortly after buying the car, the 12v battery would die if not driven for a couple days and temps were low. Spring arrived, battery was fine in the higher temps, and I forgot about the issue. Fast forward to last week and I find the battery dead after not driving for a couple days and temps in the teens. Replaced it with an Optima Yellow Top. Those things have gotten spendy. I put one in the Prius 3 years ago for $150, that size is now about $240.

Now for the good. I got a grill block installed. The plastic insert in the bottom opening was pushed back a bit, so I managed to jam the coroplast between it and the bumper cover. I blocked 75% of the top from the inside. The radiator for the inverter takes up the top 25-30% of the area in front of the ICE's radiator; I wanted to make sure it would still get some airflow until I can see how it handles it before blocking the rest.